What's your experience with AirTran into MBJ ?

Starting to look at flights and right now AirTran appears to be slightly cheaper. We usually fly out of Memphis and they didn't fly from there to MBJ in the past. We've been burned by Continental twice and will not be using them at whatever price .....

We fly AirTran from Ohio and have never had a problem in 4 trips. The first trip was with Delta and that turned into a bad day. We fly into Charlotte and then to MoBay. So far, knock on wood, all has been good.

We take the non stop AirTran flight out of BWI every year. Never had a problem thus far. Had a bad experience flying to MBJ a few years ago on US Air though. Due to fly BWI to Charlotte to MBJ early AM. At 4 pm the day prior I received an email telling me the BWI to Charlotte flight was cancelled. A lot of scrambling to get on another flight. I always book non stop now if possible.

We fly them from Baltimore to MBJ and simply LOVE them. We have lots of options being from the Metro area including Philly, DC, NY, NJ& VA some are even less expensive. We will choose Air Tran because we can upgrade at the counter for $99.00 to Business Class. It is soooo worth it.

Remember with AT they do not offer ANY food even for purchase. Business Class does offer free drinks & snacks along with 2 free bags.

AirTran is currently the only choice to fly non-stop out of STL as well. Don't know a lot about them in particular, but the smaller non-stops (usually used by the charter travel agencies) are for the most part what you would expect from a smaller airline. No frills and watch for tack on fees.

In the past we had always tried to fly non-stops to Jamaica to avoid the hassles of changing planes, luggage transfers, etc. However in the last couple of years the choices have become less and changes to schedules occur too often for our comfort level. We started using one stop flights a couple years ago with US Air and this year we are flying Delta for the first time. The one non-stop out of STL got us into MBJ later and left to come home earlier than we wanted and we got better flight times with Delta for about a hundred bucks more. I know, but we thought it was worth the money to be better assured of flight schedules being more stable and the better times for arrival and departure. We have scheduled so that we have a 5 hour layover in Atlanta on the way back to allow time for customs and immigration, security checks and getting a bite to eat before the last leg back to STL.

Flying used to be fun, and even economical for travel. No more. Now it is an expensive, uncomfortable, intrusive and stressful way to get anywhere. But how else we gonna get to Jamaica? Make the best of it and have a great trip.

FYI. Southwest Airlinles has acquired Airtrans,which opens new flight possibilities to Montego bayfrom cities
That Southwest services. On the Southwest website it states that within one year they will merge the schedules

One more thing with Air Tran. Watch you luggage size. We were headed to Florida a few years ago and my husband and I packed in one suitcase. It was the largest size of a set of luggage, so 28 or 29 inches. When packed it exceeded their size allowance. Employees at the counter had the tape measure around their necks so they were measuring a lot of luggage. We got hit for oversize each way, an extra $98 total.

dirtleg, "flying used to be fun....." Flying used to be actually part of the trip I would be looking forward to be doing. Now, forget about it! It is, "a stressful way..." Hey, thank goodness for the Red Stripes in the Sangster lounge to help relieve all that built up stress! And too, the ones at the resort don't hurt either. Maybe someday the Airlines can once again have schedules and actually stick to them.

We flew AT last year out of St Louis and had no problems, mon! However, this year we are leaving out of Philly to get that early (8:25am) flight in on CaribbeanAir! We have heard nightmare stories from almost every airline EXCEPT AirTran, so that should be a good sign! YAYAYAY 97 more days!
~Stacey

We flew Air Tran direct from BWI to MBJ last year and were very satisfied. Someone did apparently get bumped off the flight though, because they were making offers for a passenger to fly the next day and be compensated but no one came forward. That being said, in the future I will pay the $6 seat fee to help avoid getting bumped and check in plenty early.

I'll be flying AirTran for the 1st time on March 11th. I've never had any issues with any airline (not very well traveled - by plane anyway! Lol!) but I have family that takes a couple trips a year and they LOVE AirTran - or at least as much as one can love an airline.

If their customer service by email is any indication of the flight - I expect I'll be thrilled! I'm getting married on March 14th at CSA so I asked them my dress as a carry-on (just researching my options). Their response time was great and the info in the email was off the charts! So nice to deal with people who really seem to like their job and care to give good customer service!!

We have used AirTran from BWI several times now and have been pleased. After several missed connections at CLT due to delays we avoid connecting flights at all costs, ESP since it means at your first stop back in the US going through Immigration,claiming luggage, going through customs, rechecking luggage, going back through the TSA security lines and THEN going to the gate for your connection. Too many variables for us and too many missed connections that we could not control.
Air Tran non-stop has been good. We will continue to use them. One warning though... I thought WiFi was included but is is an extra charge. Charge is reasonable, BUT it only worked for part of the trip. Not really worth it I thought.
Have a great trip!

ya mon mandith, on march 11th where are you flying out of ???? we are flying out of milwaukee

Ok, this is WAY late since the trip has come and gone (boo!!!!!!!) but I flew out of Pgh, into Orlando, then to MoBoay. On the way home it was MoBay to Atlanta to Pgh.

For the record-the flights were great! A bit of a nail biter shortly after take off from Orlando but that was the weather-not the plane or the pilot. Take offs and landings were super smooth on all 4 flights! My luggage went to and fro exactly as expected. The flight crew was very nice and a bit funny on the flights. So, all in all I have no complaints what-so-ever about AirTran and all the people who were responsible for getting me, my hubby, and our stuff to and fro Jamaica